Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Virtual Blog Tour: Sex and Subterfuge by Isabel Roman (Leave a Comment for a chance to win Prizes)

Lucien: Sensual Paranormal Romances? My dear Alisha, what a surprise and pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having me here today.

Alisha: You're so very welcome. What’s it like to smuggle fellow magickers to safety?

Lucien: Rewarding. When I was young, we didn’t have this problem, magickers lived as they always have for centuries, discreetly. And then Corwin made his grab for power, using old superstitions and fears to revive the Witch Hunters. Complete with their ridiculous color coded uniforms. We had to move quickly, to get as many out of England as we could.

My friend, Preston, and I smuggling them on our steamships, and I know there are other captains sympathetic to the cause. Where there’s money to be made, there’s someone to take the risk. However, it was never about the money for me, I have plenty of my own. It was about the risk and about doing the right thing for my people.

I have to give it to Preston, though he left England to replenish his family’s fortunes, it wasn’t about the money for him, either. He’s no magicker himself, but he is a great man, one I’m proud to call friend.

Alisha: Most interesting. What did you feel the very first time you met Morgana Blackthorne?

Lucien: Since it’s your blog, Alisha, I’ll tell the uncensored version. The first time I saw her, I wanted her. It was more than simply her striking beauty and her sharp tongue. There was a recognition between us. A knowing twinkle in her eye, the sensual touch of a hand.

Alisha: *Shiver* Do tell. How different is your Druid society from normal British society?

Lucien: That’s a good question. I guess I never really thought about it before. It’s hard to separate the two. I am British and I have been brought up to live within the English society. But the Druidic society, our secret society, can never be brought to the light of day, we can never live openly amongst the world as we once did.

Truly it isn’t all that different. We have rules we abide by and our own cultural understandings. Where it does differ, is that we cherish the opinions of all in our society. We are much more open with our sexuality and our desires for one another before we commit to one. We take marriage very seriously, but until those vows are spoken, we are free to enjoy whom we please.

Alisha: Wow. Give me your honest opinion on Sir John Corwin.

Lucien: He’s a bastard who deserves to die. He’s taken an old superstition and turned it for his own power. He’s not interested in ‘saving’ England, but in becoming the next Prime Minister. Or possibly King-emperor of the world through terror and fear.

I want to remove Sir John Corwin, Head Witch Hunter, from this earth. Not kill him, if it was that simple I’d do it today. No, I fear he’ll become a martyr for his cause if murdered, but I want him disgraced, embarrassed, plucked from this world as if he never existed.

Alisha: I can tell you don't like him very much. Morgana is magickally stronger than you, any thoughts on that?

Lucien: It’s extremely enticing. I’ll leave it at that, I am a gentleman after all. Thank you, dear Alisha, for having me today. It’s been lovely being here. I do hope to see you again.

Blurb:A master magicker, Morgana Blackthorne has a tenuous hold on her following. When a strange Englishman arrives on her doorstep with news of other druidic magickers, and magicker problems, she’s intrigued but suspicious. There hasn’t been contact between the American and European druids in over a hundred years. Plus she has her own worries and doesn’t need the handsome earl adding to them.Lucien, Earl of Granville, left England to seek out the Blackthorne Druid line and discover what they’ve been up to since contact was lost. Once he and Morgana meet, their mutual attraction distracts him from his purpose. Embroiled in her problems, he finds himself more concerned with her welfare than is practical for a passing affair.

When I invited you into my bed, it never occurred to me I wouldn’t want you to leave.

There are darker forces at work and the hunger of a weak magicker desperate for power. Will Lucien convince Morgana of his true feelings before things spiral out of control? Or will the surrounding subterfuge tear them apart?

Sexcerpt:

“Lucien Harrington,” Jacobs, her butler, intoned, “the Earl of Granville.”Smiling, Morgana swept out of the circle, stepping into the foyer, and greeted her guest. His timing was off, but as the magicker she knew him to be, not suspect.“Welcome, Lord Granville,” she said, offering a slight curtsy.He was tall, with dark blond hair, dark blue eyes, and a sharp nose over which he looked down at her. Her eyes traveled over his face, down his body, clothed in immaculately tailored Savile Row, back to his face. Arousal pooled hot in her belly.She’d never wanted any man. Yet Morgana wanted Lord Granville. Her skin prickled at his nearness, her womb clenched with want.Forcing her mind off his body, she studied his face. Briefly, want flashed in his eyes and she smiled a truly wicked smile at him. It was gone as fast as it’d shone and she returned to studying him. There was grief hidden deep in his eyes, along with suspicion and weariness. Tilting her head, she wondered what caused those emotions. Suspicion she could easily understand. It’d been more than a hundred and thirty years since their families had any contact. Though, since he’d sought her out, she should be more suspicious of him.“Mistress Blackthorne,” he bowed over her offered hand. Flicking a glance behind her, he said, “I hope I’m not interrupting.”“Not at all,” Morgana smiled. She could all but feel David’s displeasure. Suppressing a giddy smile, she took Lord Granville’s arm and led him into the parlor. “We’re about to begin the New Moon Ritual. Do you still practice it in England?”Looking up at him with guileless eyes, she waited for his confusion, gratified when it sparked briefly in those bottomless depths. Damn them all. She could be as gracious as she liked, but in the end, resentment bubbled to the surface. They’d abandoned her ancestors to indentured servitude and hadn’t bothered to contact any of them since.“I’m afraid we lost that custom when we lost the valuable Blackthorne line.”Morgana raised her eyebrow at him as they entered the parlor. Wasn’t he the diplomat? “Would you care to join the ritual, Lord Granville?”He bowed again and smiled. “It would be my pleasure, Mrs. Blackthorne.”

Alisha: Since I know you’re begging for more, here’s another teaser.

Sexcerpt 2:[After Lucien and Morgana return from intimidating a French smuggler into handing over a case of dangerous and illegal venom used in making potions.]

“I need to speak with him,” Morgana said. “I’ll send him along later.”James’s eyes narrowed at her, but he nodded. Even in company he barely tolerated, he’d never question her. Especially in company he barely tolerated.Lucien watched her with a quizzical expression and she smiled. The parlor door closed silently behind her. They wouldn’t be interrupted by servants. Now was the time.“Since we met,” she said confidently and closed the distance between them. “I’ve been attracted to you.”He nodded, caressing her cheek with the knuckles of one hand. “I’ve felt the same way.”“Good,” she whispered, voice husky, lips a breath from his. “Come upstairs with me.”Lucien tried to recall a time when a woman was bold enough to seduce him, and could not. Morgana was different from his previous lovers and far, far more daring. His entire being was focused on her, on her body. Thoughts of their night, the venom, and André’s mysterious buyer swept from his head the instant she kissed him.Now, both half naked, his lips trailed down her thigh, over her knee, to her delicate ankle. Up the other leg, over the delicate swell of her hip. He looked at her in the dimness of the room. And in the shifting shadows, her eyes were a deep recess that drew Lucien in and captured him. In those interminable minutes before their lips touched again, he felt himself drowning in her; her taste, her scent, her very essence.Their lips touched softly, gently at first. Flesh on flesh. Then she opened her mouth under his and drew him in. He watched her eyes flutter shut as she gave herself over and he pulled her closer, determined to have all of her this night.Tiny, invisible tendrils wound around them, drawing them to each other, into each other and together they crossed that final barrier. He felt her hands move up his sides, over his shoulders to caress his neck, only to wind themselves around and pull him even closer, molding her body to his – perfectly.Lucien thought he knew what it was to give into lust. To know that rush, and revel in it for as long as it lasted. Thought he’d experienced everything there was to experience when it came to matters of the flesh. As her hands tugged off his shirt, slowly roaming the bare flesh underneath, he discovered he was wrong.Morgana sighed his name. “Lucien.”

Alisha: Leave a comment and you increase your chances of winning prizes on the blog tour. The tour dates can be found here: GODDESS FISH PROMOTIONS

20 comments:

Hello, Isabel Alisha - and Lucien. What an intriguing and sizzling excerpt. Can't wait to find out more. I'm not familiar with your work at the moment, Isabel, but you certainly have me hooked. Being Welsh, of course, I have a deep respect for the druids. In fact I'm going to a druid wedding at the beginning of September. I've never been to one before so am really looking forward to it.

Thanks for having me, Alisha! (Us,as you can see from the photo *G* though we usually use I when typing.) Or rather, Lucien. Unfortunately, he's out enjoying Morgana...er I mean the sights of Philadelphia right now.

Hywela, thanks for the well wishes! When I first wrote about the Druids, I did a lot of research into them. I wanted to set it closer to Anglesly, but Leeds was the larger (English) town to set the estate near.

If you get the chance to pick up Lucien's story, I hope you enjoy him...I mean it. The story. Yes.

RamblingWords, great! You should always come away from an exerpt hungry for more. ;)

Wow! Great interview today, Alisha! Lucien sounds...yummy! I think I need to find this...I wonder if I can get it for the Kindle...Isabel, I love your writing style...well, what I have read here! This sexecerpt has my attention...

Once more, thanks Alisha for hosting me. And Angie...the cover model is hot. If the book ever made it to the big screen (What?! A girl can dream *G*) He'd do just fine. Originally, I had Jude Law in mind, but I'll take this one!

Don't forget to check out my charity book for children, Tennessee. 100% of proceeds go to gifting books to the Children of our Fallen Warriors at Snowball Express in December. Visit Tennessee's website at http://tennesseethetherapycat.weebly.com!